In My Humble Opinion

No, it’s not about the weather, although I don’t believe it’s just me who is officially over winter. What with March coming in like a lion and all… well, I think most of us are ready for spring. In an effort to get my mind off of the latest onslaught of white stuff, I packed up my troubles (and dog) in my old kit bag and headed off to Livingston Manor (www.catskillartsociety.org) for a variety of reasons. Read more

I’m sorry. I swore that I would not write another single word about the weather, but it’s all anybody is talking (and posting on social media) about. Well, that and Lady Gaga—and I’m not even sure who she is. While I am rarely at a loss for words, most often it’s because I have left my house, ventured out into the world and seen people, taken in a show or attended the most recent art gallery installation. Read more

I’ve run out of adjectives and my list of synonyms has frozen up. Words like arctic, frigid, icy, polar, raw, frosty and nippy just aren’t cutting it anymore, and our refrigerated landscape has been making the national news with wind chills dipping to minus 35 here in the Upper Delaware River region. Lately, I’ve taken to flipping through photos of spring, summer and fall to remind myself of why we do it, save for the brave few who adore shivering on the slopes or braving the glacial temps to sit on a barrel and fish through a hole they have painstakingly bored into the lake. Read more

Good question. Once again, there’s a dark cloud over my head, and it’s called Valentine’s Day. Most people have a holiday they could live without and mine is due on Saturday. While the actual history of Cupid’s rise to fame is debatable, romantic love is deeply rooted in the various interpretations. Read more

I’ve got it—how ‘bout you? Depending on what Internet source you use, cabin fever has different connotations, with an underlying theme: boredom, laced with anger, tinged with restless paranoia. Not that I needed to look it up. Born and raised in upstate New York, I’ve had the fever once or twice, but there was no worldwide web in my childhood with which to divert and entertain. Still, one can only spend so much time surfing the web, before the walls invariably close in. Read more

With the not-so-recent onslaught of reality-based television programming pummeling the airwaves, my viewing has ranged from a genuine fascination with the exploration of the human condition, to mindless entertainment, to guilty pleasure. Although popularized by a Hollywood writers strike occurring in the late 1980s and again in 2007, reality TV has been around for a long time—shows like “Candid Camera” and the “Ted Mack Original Amateur Hour” spring to mind as some vintage examples. Read more

Well, that’s not entirely true. I did fall on the driveway yesterday and it wasn’t easy getting up, but I managed—old bones intact. Having written (extensively) about the ice last week, I thought I was done with the subject, but Mother Nature seems to have it out for me this winter. I avoid using salt (bad for the pup’s paws), and barn calcite wreaks havoc in the house. But clearly, I need to be more careful while attempting to get out and about, searching for artistic endeavors around the region. Read more

Oh, how those two little words used to thrill. I’m not sure when I turned into my own grandfather, but as kids across the Upper Delaware River region press their noses to the window, praying to hear the news, I find myself regaling youngsters with how difficult it was back in the day, when it took a blizzard to cause a cancellation and we had to walk to school, bundled up in snow pants and mittens, braving the elements whether we wanted to or not. Read more

It happens every year. After the lights have dimmed and the trees (and menorahs) come down, the melancholy often sets in for many of us who have been busy rushing around expressing good will to strangers on the streets while dropping coins into buckets in an attempt to lift the spirits of those less fortunate than ourselves. Read more

As 2014 draws to a close, I can’t help but review the last year in my head. Since I’m often feeble-minded, I feel fortunate to have my trusty camera and the photos therein, with which to refresh my memory as I peruse the pictures, recalling the many opportunities I’ve had to capture the world of arts and leisure here in the Upper Delaware River region. Read more